An Ontario judge has decided that a $250,000 fine against a small company, and 25-day jail terms for two company directors, were too severe.

The defendant employer was a small business with a few employees at the time of the accident. An employee died after he fell 12 feet while attempting to retrieve merchandise in the warehouse. The employee had not received safety training and was not wearing any safety equipment.

The employer and its two directors were charged with offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act relating to training and fall protection. Each of them pleaded guilty to two charges. The court imposed a total fine of $250,000 on the company and 25-day jail terms for the directors, reasoning that a fine against the directors personally “would only cause more financial hardship”.

The appeal judge decided that the $250,000 fine against the company, and the jail terms, were “significantly out of the range of sentences regularly imposed by the courts for these types of offences and for these types of offenders”. The fine was “demonstrably unfit”. Similarly, the trial Justice of the Peace was wrong when she reasoned that jail terms were appropriate for the directors because a fine would cause more financial hardship. The caselaw showed that jail terms were more appropriate for defendants with prior safety convictions for whom fines had not had a deterrent effect.

The appeal judge therefore imposed a total fine of $50,000 on the company and $15,000 on each of the two directors, for a total of $80,000. The jail terms were set aside.

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